


Rise of the Four Seasons

by KeysToTheMoon



Category: Brave (2012), Disney - Fandom, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Disney Big Four, Feels, Gen, Guardian AU, Memories, There will probably be more relationships but like idk, no beta or editing i will die on this rock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2020-11-08 19:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20841038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeysToTheMoon/pseuds/KeysToTheMoon
Summary: Jack Frost is the Spirit of WinterRapunzel is the Spirit of SpringMerida is the Spirit of SummerHiccup is the Spirit of AutumnThey all are trying to play their parts as Guardians while dealing with their newfound memories and friendships. Four Seasons, learning to work together and possibly finding themselves along the way.





	1. Awake

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this may suck but like you clicked on it so, clearly, it can't be that bad. Hoping for the best, I have no idea if this will have a lot of chapters or if it will just be a mess.

Jack had promised, _promised_ that she’d be fine, and he never broke a promise. She’d only seen him for a second after he got her to safety. Just one-second where she saw his smile, and then the ice shattered and he was gone.

Jack’s whole world went dark as soon as he hit the water. It was _freezing_, and his whole body felt like it had seized up and frozen as he sank into the depths of the lake. He looked up, his chest aching with a need for air, and saw a light. _The moon_, his mind told him. It whispered to him, told him he’d be okay, that nothing was going to happen to him. And Jack stopped feeling cold, stopped feeling hurt, stopped feeling alone.

He woke up on the lake with no memory of anything except for _Your name is Jack Frost,_ Echoing in his head like a broken record.

Jack Frost was the Spirit of Winter. Before anyone else, he became the Guardian of Fun. 

* * *

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Quite a name for such a small boy, everyone always said. And such a shame, he can’t kill dragons like the rest of us. The rumors and whispered echoed through Berk wherever Hiccup went for most of his life. Until he met Toothless, that is.

After a terrifying time when his father refused to listen to him about dragons, they were accepted into Berk. Hiccup was important, and his inventions were used and loved and he was _noticed_.

When Hiccup fell into the fire, he heard a voice. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from or who it could have belonged to. The only thing he remembers when he woke up was a kind voice, saying _Not yet_.

Many years later, as chief of Berk, Hiccup fell again. And again, Toothless dove after him. But this time, it wasn’t soon enough. They both hit the flames going too fast to stop. The voice was back now, and here to stay. It whispered to Hiccup, soothing the burns on his arms and leg, _Now, both of you, together._

Hiccup woke up in the woods, Toothless waiting for him. He couldn’t remember how or why he was here. The only things he could remember were _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and Toothless the Dragon._ Echoing again and again.

Hiccup Haddock was the Spirit of Autumn. 

* * *

Rapunzel left her tower and finally found a home. Of course, she married Eugene and became, in time, the good queen of her people. She tried not to think about her time in the tower once she was out. Instead, she focused on her new family, her _real_ family.

Nothing lasts forever, not even for a girl who can heal with her tears, the remnants of the flower still within her. When everything went black, and the world seemed to pause, she heard for once the moon and not the sun. _The flower glows, _It whispered, _so you will join me._

Rapunzel woke up in a cave with her tower, although she didn’t remember it being her tower. It looked homey, so she stayed. Despite how close she was to her home, the only thing she thought was, _Your name is Rapunzel Corona._

Rapunzel was the Spirit of Spring. 

* * *

Merida , her last time riding Angus. Long after her story, and long after her mother came back to her, she was getting too old and sore to ride and shoot like she used to. Running her country as Queen had also taken its toll on her health. But she was antsy, and Angus, old as he was, was spry as the day she’d gotten him.

So she rode, farther than what was safe, into the woods that had given her her fate. And the wisps, which she hadn’t seen for years, reappeared. She followed them, racing off of Angus. Merida had no bow this time around. She just had to rely on her wits. The wisps kept leading her, deeper and deeper. Merida was tired. She was far too old to walk this much. The wisps were gathering, surrounding her in blue light. Up above, the moon was shining brightly on her. _Now is the time._

_Merida DunBroch,_ the name echoed in her head as she walked, slowly, through the woods. She tried to remember what on earth she was looking for.

Merida was the Spirit of Summer.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, this was just for me so I didn't forget anything about these guys. I'm sorry it's short and lame.


	2. Rain Showers Bring Flowers

Rapunzel loved Spring. When she first woke up she spent hours turning her grotto into paradise. It had huge trees covered in moss and vines. There were flowers as far as she could get them, grown to look like an abstract painting.

Venturing out into the world to spread Spring was even more fun. While she loved helping animals wake up and settle into their homes, her real favorite part was the rain.

With a little focus, she could summon rains. She liked making the rain gentle and letting it run for a few hours at a time. It revitalized her. She loved an excuse to make it rain.

Rapunzel was doing that one evening, having it rain over a small town to make way for a patch of wildflowers. She then heard loud complaining.

“All this rain when Easter’s in less than a week! Crikey, it's going to ruin the eggs before any ankle biters can find ‘em!” A voice said from a nearby house.

Rapunzel, confused by the jarring accent, sought out the sound. She rounded the corner and came face to face with a giant rabbit. She cried out in surprise, stumbling backward and rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn’t crazy. Sure enough, standing in front of her was a huge bunny. There were a bunch of walking eggs huddled around him and a...boomerang strapped to his back.

“Woah there, little lady didn’t mean to scare ‘ya!” The bunny said, grinning.

“I-It’s alright...sir,” she said, unsure of how to address the situation. “I’m sorry if I...surprised you?”

“Don’t worry about that,” The bunny said, glancing behind her to the trail of hair, “you...have a lot of hair. I’m going to assume that means you’re a spirit and used to seeing’ these sorts of things.”

“Oh, yes!” Rapunzel said, perking up and holding out her hand. “I’m Rapunzel, Spirit of Spring!”

“Rapunzel? Nice to meet ya,” the bunny said, shaking her hand. “I’m the Easter Bunny.”

“I figured,” Rapunzel grinned.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the cause of all this rain, would ya?” He asked, gesturing around him. “It’s been a bit of an inconvenience what with Easter being tomorrow.”

“Oh my goodness!” Rapunzel said, eyes going wide. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea that was tomorrow. I was just trying to fix up these dry flowerbeds, I didn’t mean to disturb your work.”

“No big deal, mate, don’t stress about it,” Bunny replied, giving her a smile.

Rapunzel looked at the sky, focusing her power. After a few moments, she felt her hair begin to glow. Bunny took a step back in surprise. There were a few seconds of drizzling before the rain stopped, revealing the cool night sky.

“There you go!” Rapunzel said, grinning at Bunny.

“Thanks for the help!” Bunny called, turning to get back to work. “I’ll see you around sometime, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel waved as he left. Then, after double-checking that the flowerbeds were healthy, she raced back to her grotto. Laughing, she spun around the space. After all, she had met another spirit, someone like her! Even better, it was the Easter Bunny! What was there not to love about a giant bunny who gives children the happiness of Easter?

Rapunzel raced around to the tower. You could hardly see it through the vines and flowers growing all the way up its walls. Inside, there was no trace of furniture other than a small door leading to her bed. The rest of the area was the huge walls. Half of them covered in paintings, half of them empty, waiting for whatever she could think of to add. Circling the room, she found her paints and a blank spot on the walls.

Steadily, she painted a new mural onto the wall of the tower. It was a flower field, with tiny eggs hidden in the tulips. Standing in the center was the Easter Bunny. She painted him as best as she could from memory. Then she added herself with glowing hair and grinned. A memory preserved on her walls.

Hopefully, she would meet some new spirits soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! In case you're confused, I've given everyone a little "home-base" like Jack's lake in the movie. I'm intending it to be their sanctuary, like with Tooth's palace and North's workshop once they become guardians. For now, it's just a little place for them to rest in the meantime. Rapunzel's is kind of sad, the tower. I want to note that she doesn't remember anything about it except that it's familiar, and she's made it into a haven of new life. When I originally drafted this chapter, explaining all of that was too wordy, so I'll just put it here.


	3. Summer Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merida makes summer beautiful and meets a Guardian.

For Merida, her favorite part of the summer was the adventures. Kids of all ages could go outside, no coats or heavy boots to hold them back, and do whatever they want for the longest days of the year. She could chase them through the woods, guiding them to the best parts of the forest, with green trees that she grew specifically for climbing. For her, it was amazing. 

She spent a lot of her time showing younger children flower gardens with little creeks they could play in without danger and showing older ones secret hiking paths that gave them the best view of their town without fear of being scolded by parents. 

Her favorite kids were in a family in a house near the woods. They had twins, and Merida never bothered to learn their names. She was awful with names anyways. She showed them a huge field with big boulders that were great for playing King of the Hill and trees with the perfect branches for climbing. The twins never shied away from an opportunity to climb something, no matter how tall or smooth the surface was. They’d cross rivers without a second thought, balance on the edge of a bridge just for fun, and stay out later than they were supposed to. They weren’t scared of anything, and Merida admired that.

One day, a clear sky with a tiny breeze to keep them cool, Merida led the twins deeper in the forest, to the best cliff she’d ever seen.

“Here we are!” Merida announced, even though she was well aware that the children couldn’t hear her, “This cliff has the best handholds, and the view is spectacular!”

The twins were incredibly excited. They started climbing right away. Merida watched this part closely, climbing up with them to make sure they didn’t fall. The twins were good climbers, but they were still children. Children had a tendency to lose focus, and that could get them hurt.

Merida’s fears were unfounded, as the twins didn’t slip once on their way up. At the top, the two of them gasped. The view was amazing. You could see for miles around, forest and towns and, in the distance, a misty silhouette of the city. The twins stayed up on the cliff for hours, making up stories about random things they saw, and how they were practically the King and Queen because they were so high up. Merida was having so much fun that she completely forgot that the twins had a curfew until they were watching the sunset.

“Oh my god, you two need to go home!” She cried, for all the good it did. Neither of the twins heard her. “Get up! Come on!” Merida tried to grab the girl, and her hand phased straight through her. “Oh, of course! Here! Get...Up!” Merida, focusing her powers, gave the twins a swift jab in the sides with a rock that she moved by controlling the moss around it.

The twins both jumped, glancing around.

“We need to get home,” the girl said. Her brother nodded, and they rushed down the cliffside. Merida was quick to take the lead, having to catch one of the children more than once when they missed a handhold in the rapidly darkening sky.

She leads the way, moving the branches of the trees out of the way and waking the fireflies up early. The twins hurried along, taking no notice that the only part of the forest that they could see was the path home.

“There you two are!” The twin's mother yelled when they reached the house. “I was waiting on the porch! You two scared me half to death! And you missed dinner!”

Merida sighed. “Of course, yer thoughts go straight to dinner…”

The twins mumbled apologies, then followed their mother back inside. Merida stayed on the lawn. She didn’t want to intrude (despite the fact that no one could see or hear her) and being indoors for longer periods of time made her nervous. Instead, she walked to the edge of the woods and waited for it to get a little darker. 

After only about half an hour, when the stars and moon were in full swing. She watched as the space above the houses lit up with beautiful golden lights. When Merida first woke up she wasn’t entirely sure what they were, but a helpful nature sprite had told her it was the Sandman’s work.

Merida loved the Sandman’s work, but she was too embarrassed to ever try to speak to him. He was a  _ Guardian _ . They were the best of the best in the spirit world! How could she talk to him when she wasn’t even a believed in nature spirit.

That night, however, she actually saw him. He was working right above the roof of the twins’ home. There were strands of golden dust surrounding him, spreading out through the town and far away, filling the world with dreams.

Merida’s usual shyness didn’t exist anymore. She walked up to the house. There were two golden streams, shining straight through the window into the twin's shared bedroom. Looking in, she could see a dolphin and a fairy. Merida smiled, before looking back towards the strands, uninterrupted. Slowly, she reached out. 

She didn’t really know why she did it now, and not the first time or one of the other hundreds of times she’d seen the golden strands filling the sky. But tonight, she reached out and touched one. Where her finger connected, the strand split, one still leading towards a fairy in the twin's room, the other shooting towards her and transforming. She couldn’t help but laugh. It was a horse, a big, fast horse. Some part of her felt like she should remember this horse. Merida erased the thought. She’d most likely just seen it in a book or toy store nearby.

She didn’t notice Sandman had seen her until he was right next to her. She jumped, stifling a yelp and the instinct to reach for the bow she had slung over her shoulder. The bow only appeared when she wanted it, which includes times of surprise.

Sandman didn’t look angry, though. His eyes were kind and gentle, and he was smiling at the horse, still circling Merida’s head in a tiny orbit.

“I...uh, sorry, I was just…” Merida stammered with no idea what to say to someone as  _ important _ as the Sandman.  _ Sorry, I was just wondering what it’d feel like to touch your magic dream sand in the middle of the night while being awake? _ That didn’t sound like a very good excuse.

Sandman, however, just smiled and shook his head. Above him, golden sand formed an arrow, pointing towards the twins, then a question mark.

“Oh, them? I...like them, and they were out late tonight…” Merida mumbled, “I was just checking on them when you started your whole dream...sand...stuff.

Sandman nodded. Another arrow appeared, this time pointing at her, followed by another question mark.

“I’m Merida,” she said, more confidently, “Spirit of Summer. I already know you, Sandman...that is you, right? Okay, good. Nice to meet you.”

Sandman held out his hand. She shook it. Glancing up, Merida realized how late it was, and how much she’d need to prepare for tomorrow. She still had a whole grove of trees that were covered in flowers instead of fruit! And the Sandman probably 

“Oh, shoot, it’s getting so late,” Merida said. “I’m sure you have lots of dreams to be working on, and there’s a whole grove of trees that still don’t have any apples, so...it was nice meeting you!” She gave the Sandman an awkward smile.

  
Sandman smiled back, waving at her as she raced back into the forest, the opposite way of the orchard she needed to get to. She had just met the Sandman, a  _ Guardian _ who seemed to like her! This was turning out to be one of the best summers ever.


	4. Painted Leaves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took forever. I've been swamped with school stuff and some hardcore writer's block. This chapter is shorter and really bad but it's plot so whatever.

Hiccup didn’t know why he had a dragon. From what he knew of, none of the other spirits had dragons. They weren’t exactly common spirits. Especially since Hiccup was absolutely sure, although he didn’t know how that Toothless hadn’t been a person in his life. Toothless had always just been a dragon. Of course, hundreds of years into being a spirit (albeit not a very prominent or social one) he was well aware that Toothless was the only dragon, spirit or otherwise, left. He was just glad the dragon had decided to stick around. Humans walked right through spirits, which made it kind of hard to make friends with them. Other spirits could talk to him, but he didn’t really like their company. Hiccup was awkward, and he didn’t really like trying to meet any of the other spirits, no matter how nice they seemed.

Besides, Hiccup didn’t need to talk to other spirits to do his job. Autumn was so short in so many places, he was too busy doing his job to care. When he wasn’t making the world red and orange and yellow, he was planning for it or enjoying another season. Winter was just after Autumn, so he was usually focused on not letting it ruin Autumn before it could really shine. On more than one occasion, the snow had come incredibly early, and Hiccup had to hurriedly shake all the perfectly green leaves to the ground to protect the trees. 

Not that he had anything against Winter, but Hiccup liked the change between seasons. It was comforting to him, slowly painting new colors across the world. Having Toothless really helped. The dragon was very fast, allowing him to get around to do his job without any worries. In his opinion, his job was far too short. In most places, Autumn was not a very long season, with summer and winter creeping in and taking up his time. 

Despite not really talking to the other spirits, Hiccup learned a lot from and about them. He knew about the Guardians, the spirits who made it big and were chosen by the Man in the Moon to keep children safe. He’d never met them before, but they sounded amazing. Hiccup was particularly interested in the big man himself, North (AKA Santa Claus). Ability-wise, they seemed like they’d get along, both enjoying building things. Personality-wise, from what Hiccup had heard, was so...familiar, in a weird way. 

So, imagine his surprise when upon following some odd snow while making sure all of the trees in the area became a specific shade of yellow. He followed it, mildly annoyed that some winter spirit was trying to invade Autumn. And to his shock, he found none other than… 

A random winter spirit with white hair that he’d never seen before. 

He was wearing a blue hoodie and no shoes, and he was carrying a wooden staff. The boy was laughing as he coated a few leafless trees with frost. Hiccup stared at him. For some reason, he couldn’t turn away, or muster up the courage to ask him to chill out (ha!) with the winter so he could make some more trees yellow beforehand. So he just watched, for what felt like hours and hours, even though only a few minutes had passed, and the boy, as if suddenly distracted, shot off like a light, flying away. 

Hiccup waited for a moment before Toothless nudged his shoulder to remind him _hey! We got work to do here!_ Snapping out of his trance, Hiccup got on Toothless and flew in the other direction, mind still wandering to the white-haired spirit. He didn't even notice that all of the leaves had gone from yellow to light red in the area around him. 


	5. Jack Frost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I write things on weird days with no schedule. I am one person who was just got back from Utah on a bus. I'm not good at schedules. To make things a little more common, I'm going to try to update once a week. If I were you I would expect it to be like once every two weeks because I'm a sleep-deprived mess. Have fun with this chapter I know it's short and bad I'm sorry.

Jack loved children. He liked their attitude towards life and their constant curiosity. He loved freezing over lakes so they could ice-skate on snow days and make snowmen in their yards. It made him happy, seeing them happy.

However, that joy was bittersweet. He would float around or above the kids, never getting close enough that they would walk through him. The horrible feeling of someone walking through you without second thought still caused him some discomfort. When he first woke up, he’d ran to the nearest village. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, or who he was, or why he had these miraculous powers. So, he’d found a motherly woman to ask for help. He’d started to talk when she turned and walked right through him. It felt like being crushed under ice, freezing cold. It forced the air out of his lungs, making him cough, but most of all it just  _ hurt _ . It left a cold, aching feeling in his chest the first few times it had happened.

Jack was more used to the feeling now. There was no more pain, but he still felt like he had lost some air, and the lingering emptiness did not fade with time. It also reminded him of his first few years as a spirit. 

Jack spent almost a year hovering around the village. He tried to get the villagers to see him. His displays of power didn’t faze them at all. They just thought it was regular snow and frost that had ended up in a unique pattern against the trees. He tried shouting, whispering, following people around, getting in their way, doing their chores. He’d even knock them over with wind if he felt like it was going to get their attention. Nothing worked.

He spent another horrifying year wondering if he was the only Spirit out there, completely alone. He wasn’t. In fact, Jack wasn’t even the only winter spirit. He met several of them once winter was in full swing in the country. They did not get along very well. Jack preferred pranks and his snow creations to be focused on fun. The frost spirits like “pranks” that would put the kids in danger or hurt other people. Jack stopped interacting with them soon after.

Finding out about the other spirits happened soon after he left the winter spirits behind. Apparently, they weren’t very well-liked anywhere. He met a lot of minor spirits but was surprised to find that a good deal of them could remember parts of their past lives very well. The closest Jack had ever come was in meeting a specific little girl.

She was a pretty little thing, always frowning and moping. She didn’t talk much and never went out with the other children her age in the winter. Specifically, she refused to go near the lake that the other kids liked to use for ice-skating (the one Jack specifically coated with smooth snow for them).

He was drawn to her not because she was sad (although that was a reason she’d caught his eye). He felt like there was something about her that was so  _ familiar _ , but he couldn’t remember who she was. Try as he might, he drew a blank when trying to place her name or age or something small that could tell him how he’d known her. 

When that failed, Jack moved on to trying to make the little girl happy. He would start every fun winter activity that existed, from ice-skating to fort making to snowball fights whenever she was seen moping around. Nothing cracked her frown.

It was this little girl that helped Jack realize he could do something incredible with the snow he controlled. With some focus, he could make the snow affect people’s moods. Once he could control it, he used it on the little girl in a snowball fight. As soon as it hit her, she started to giggle, then to really laugh. Jack loved that laugh. It made him happy, seeing her happy. Her smile warmed him up, all the way to the bone.

Thinking about the girl nowadays gave Jack mixed emotions. Thinking of her laughter made him happy, but his chest ached because of how much he missed her. She’d gone to another village ages ago, and Jack hadn’t known he could go with. Of course, it worsened the blow that none of the children nowadays could see him. It made him lonely, and he’d settled into a monotonous routine since then.

So, the day the Easter Bunny’s goons had tied him up in a sack and kidnapped him to the North Pole was incredibly interesting. Finding out he was a guardian was even more so. Fighting and defeating Pitch Black with his own fear had been the most insane thing he’d ever done with his powers.    
  


Coming back to “normal” life had also been interesting. He was a guardian now, and children believed in him. Of course, it wasn’t very widespread yet. Jack could go into any town in the world and find someone who didn’t believe in him. But now he could also find someone who did believe in him. And he was a  _ guardian _ , and that was insane! Guardians were the leaders of the Spirits. They were the ones who protected children, one-on-one. He felt, for the first time, what being seen was like. 

Jack often went out and looked for minor spirits. He liked to try, at least, to get a little bit of belief in new spirits so they could feel it too. It made him feel warm inside, just like the mystery girl’s smile had hundreds of years earlier.

But now, he was back in the North Pole to find out who the new Guardian was and why it mattered. That Pitch might have come back. That all his hard work may have been for nothing.


	6. Black Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I write slow and this chapter is really short I'm currently failing two classes so I'm just trying not to perish at school :) I'll get this done soon I promise.

A rabbit runs through the woods, almost hidden by the undergrowth. Its fur is stained with blood, and its tiny breaths are rapid in its chest. It hardly takes a chance to stop, only when faced with choosing a direction to run. It halts, for a split second, by the riverbed, rising to its hind legs. The rabbit’s nose twitches, scenting something invisible in the air.

It thinks for a second that it is safe. Slowly, its posture relaxes. 

The creature tears through the rabbit without a second thought. There is nothing left of the rabbit save a drop of blood and a tiny print in the mud. 

And the faintest dusting of ink-black sand.

* * *

The horse, ink black and made entirely of sand, races along the cliffs. It soars through the air, blotting out the stars above its head as it journeys. In its jaws, there is a mound of bloody, rotting flesh. Sand is dripping from the creature, the only part visible was a red and white rabbit’s foot. Its destination is reached late into the night, in a tiny cave within the cliffs. It wriggles through the hole in the rocks and descends in the darkness. 

At the bottom, a thin layer of black sand covers the rocks. The black horse hovers anxiously over the bottom, clutching the bloody mass in its jaw. The sand on the ground quivers and the nightmare drops the rabbit into it.

Already dead, it does not squeal as it is crushed in black sand. There is the faintest wisp of light before the sand dispersed from the bloody mound. There wasn’t a single thing left of the creature. The nightmare, still hovering above the sand, whinnies.

Slowly, the sand quivers, starting to clump together and accumulate in the center. The mound grows, a single hand rising and grasping the horse’s neck. The creature, frantic, pulls away as the sand it is made of it dragged into the swirling mass of ink-black sand. 

For a split second, it becomes a man, tall and lean. He’s pale and gaunt, with huge circles under his glowing amber eyes. Then the second is over, and the sand settles back down to the ground. A voice whispers from the sand.

“More, and soon I will be complete,” it whispers. The nightmare whinnies, shaking itself before soaring out of the cave, searching for another soul to take.


	7. The Sun and the Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have nothing to say for myself other than I'm sorry this took so long I just honestly wasn't in the brainspace to write this??? It's short and lame but enjoy!

Rapunzel noticed the change in while she was trying to figure out the exact amount of rain she'd need to make her flowers bloom without making everything miserable. The children, walking down streets on their way to school or going home, were so..._sad_. 

They had dark circles under their eyes and their faces were in permanent frowns. If they were walking in a group, none of them spoke to each other. They just got where they were going. She watched them, doing her best to cheer them up any way she could. But they ignored the colorful flowers they used to play in so often, and never jumped in puddles after the rain or enjoyed themselves. 

Something was wrong.

The only problem was Rapunzel had no idea what. Physically, the children were fine aside from looking a bit more tired than usual. She was completely out of her element, especially seeing as none of the children could _see_ her or interact with her. She could offer them no comfort. 

Instead, she focused on making their towns as beautiful as possible, welcoming in Spring as she'd done every year. The children didn't notice it, and it made her even more concerned.

* * *

Making up her mind one day, she decided to look for another spirit. Someone who might know what was going on, or at the very least would be able to point her in the right direction. She wanted to talk to Bunny, who always greeted her when he was doing his rounds for Easter, but she'd lost the chance. Easter had been particularly hectic this year and she hadn't thought to ask him when she met him.

So, finishing the paint on the last of the flowers, coloring the tulips a fantastic shade of yellow, she made her way through the forest. Most spirits spend their time right on the edge of civilization, where there wasn't a risk of children seeing the magic directly but they could still watch over them and do their jobs. Rapunzel assumed that if she just walked for long enough she could find someone who knew what was going on.

  


About halfway through the woods, so far from the town that she couldn't even see the tall clock that rose in the middle of it, Rapunzel saw something interesting. A group of apple trees, which she'd left in blossom, were now a deep shade of green with ruby red apples hanging from the branches. Of course, it was perfectly normal for the blossoms to become apples, but that wasn't why it was interesting.

It was interesting because the green trees were standing in the middle of dozens of trees that were still in bloom. Only these had changed, which meant that some outside force had to have changed it. Rapunzel had found another spirit.

Following the trail of apple trees, she eventually made her way to a stream. And a voice.

"There, that should do ye," a female voice with a thick Scottish accent was saying. Rapunzel watched, a bit awestruck, as one of the apple trees rapidly lost the blossoms and started growing apples. A hand reached up and picked one of the new apples, bringing it down to eat.

Suddenly nervous, Rapunzel hesitated from her vantage point behind the trees. She'd never spoken properly to another spirit before, other than Bunny, and she wasn't entirely sure how she was going to bring up her question. Introducing herself was easy, but how do you lead into, "hey, the kids in my villages are tired and sad and I think something is very, very wrong?" It wasn't exactly a good way of making friends.

Sighing, resigning herself to whatever embarrassment she'd have to face in this conversation, Rapunzel stepped out from behind the tree and approached the spirit. Now that Rapunzel could see her, she stopped again. 

The woman was tall, with pale skin and a mountain of curly, bright red hair. She was wearing a dark green dress and had a bow and arrows slung over her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Rapunzel forced her feet to move again.

"Um, excuse me?" She said, putting on a smile.

The woman turned, and Rapunzel was surprised by how young her face looked. "You talkin' to me, lass?" The woman asked, eyeing Rapunzel's purple dress and bare feet.

"Y-yes! I am talking to you," Rapunzel said, scrambling to get her thoughts in order. The woman seemed a bit surprised.

"Are you a spirit, lass?" She asked. "I haven't met anyone other than spirits who could see me. Or are you somethin' else?"

"I'm a spirit, like you," Rapunzel said, coming a bit closer. "I was, um, passing through, and I noticed my trees were losing their blossoms and growing apples in an...interesting pattern, so I followed and found you."

"Oh, these are your blossoms?" The woman asked. "Interestin' patterns...oh! That wasn't intentional, miss, sorry! Sometimes I do that without thinkin' about it. I was craving apples, you see."

"Of course, it's not a problem!" Rapunzel assured her, smiling. The woman seemed friendly and was a spirit, which means she could have the information she needed. "I'm Rapunzel, it's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Merida," the woman said, holding out a hand. Rapunzel shook it. "Nice to meet you too."

Merida turned back to her work, munching absent-mindedly on her apple. She seemed lost in thought. Rapunzel, remembering why she'd bothered to come out here, straightened up.

"I don't mean to bother," Rapunzel said, "But have you, by any chance, noticed something...strange...with the children around here?"  


Merida looked back at Rapunzel, considering the question. "Strange? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the children in the villages I've been to all seem really..." Rapunzel hesitated, gathering her words, "Miserable. They don't smile or laugh or play, and they don't look like they've been sleeping all that well. I'm worried."

Merida considered the question, nodding. "I've been noticing it too, with the kids in the villages I've passed through."

"You don't think they're sick, do you?" Rapunzel asked, mind going to something like the plague.

"Nah, but I thought it at first. Then I noticed it was affectin' a whole lot o' the kids, and reasoned it couldn't be a sickness if no one was bedridden and the adults were just fine."

Rapunzel sighed in relief, releasing tension she didn't know she had. "Thank goodness. I'd hate to find out they were sick."

"Aye, it would be awful," Merida agreed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I've been gettin' a bad feeling when I'm around the kids, 'specially when they're sleepin'. It's like something creeps through them in the night."

"I was hoping to find a spirit who knew what was happening," Rapunzel said, a bit miserably. "But you seem to be just as in the dark as I am..."

Merida sighed. "Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I'll tell ya what!"

"What?"

"I'll keep an eye out. I've got a friend who...usually knows these things. He'd probably be willing to help me if I can find him. He's been a bit...distant recently. If I figure it out, I'll find you, deal?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Deal. I'll do the same."

They shook hands and went their separate ways. Although she hadn't found out what she wanted, Rapunzel felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Merida had been very kind, and if Rapunzel kept thinking about her the whole way home, well, that wasn't anyone's business but hers.


	8. Nightmares and Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am really bad at updating HOWEVER I am going to make a small effort to get to a vague schedule but like, I'm really bad at that so I prolly won't.

Merida liked children. She did, even when they argued or spent unreasonable amounts of time speaking at the highest possible volume. However, there was a limited amount of time she could spend surrounded by them before she started losing her mind. When she felt she needed a break from the constant energy of young children, she went deep into the forests. 

  
The forests were amazing. Quiet and yet simultaneously full of life. She liked running through the woods, not a care in the world, making up targets, and practicing her bow. Although she’d never seen anything dangerous that could hurt her in the woods (there were no dangerous animals other than the occasional beer, which didn’t even bother her) it was still important to maintain her skill. 

Wandering through the forest on a particularly beautiful and particularly overcast day, Merida suddenly felt a wave of...familiarity, almost. The forest itself wasn’t any more familiar than any others she’d journeyed through, and yet. There was this _feeling _like the place was familiar somehow. 

She had the briefest flash of a memory. Running through the woods. Upset, trying to get away from...home? She couldn’t remember. But she was deep in the woods. And there were lights—no, _ wisps _ —waiting for her. She followed them to a hut with a _ witch _who did...what did the witch do?

It was something important. Merida grasped at her foggy memories, trying desperately to remember what happened, and why she was recalling this _now _when she was not in the same forest as the one where she met the witch. The witch, the witch, the witch.

_ What happened with the Witch? And the wisps? _

_ What happened to her mother? _

The last thought caught her attention, making her freeze for a moment. The memory, distant, faded entirely from her mind as she stopped. Blinking, she looked around. She hadn’t even realized she’d been running, but now her breath came in fast gasps as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. 

“Why am I here?” She whispered to no one in particular. Looking at the sky, she got even more confused. 

It must have been midday when she got the memory in the woods. Now it was almost night, the sun dipping below the horizon somewhere she couldn’t see with the trees in the way.

“Why am I _ here? _ She asked again, looking around. There was nothing special about this little clearing in the woods, other than the raised mound of dirt in front of her. There was something familiar about it, but her memories were already gone again, and she could not for the life of her remember why.

_ I was asking what was wrong with something_. She thought. _ What happened...what happened... _

“What happened with WHAT?” She yelled at the dirt, kicking a pebble. Her memories had always been fickle, but to come now, with no warning or reason or…

What in the world was she trying to remember? There was nothing significant about something happening to something, after all. It was just a loose thought, and yet Merida grasped at the singular thought, the only thing remaining of her memories. And it came back, just that one.

_ What happened to her mother? _

_ What happened to MY mother? _ Merida thought. It hardly mattered. Merida couldn’t remember her mother if she tried. She wasn’t entirely sure whether she’d even HAD a mother. 

So why did she suddenly remember something, only for it to lead her to a mound of dirt and abandon her there? It didn’t make any sense.

Merida huffed. She’d been standing there for long enough that it was completely dark. The forest was quiet, only the vague sounds of the creatures of the night waking up to live to give any sign the forest was inhabited. Listening to the crickets, she picked up on another sound.

Somewhere close to her, the sound of sand sliding against sand resonated in her ears. Turning, quickly nocking an arrow into her bow, she studied the underbrush, trying to see what had made the sound. Hoping it was a small animal but fearing it was something worse because _what kind of animal sounds like sand? _

The brush began to rustle gently. She raised her bow and aimed, slowly drawing the arrow. The shaking grew, and Merida drew fully—

Only for a rabbit to come racing from the underbrush, freezing when it noticed her. Breathing a sigh of relief and laughing at her own paranoia, she lowered her bow, about to return the arrow to her quiver…

  
  
  


A black shaped hurled itself at the rabbit from the underbrush, tackling it and killing it with a horrible _crunch _as the rabbit’s bones were shattered. With a cry of surprise, Merida drew her bow, aimed, and fired at the horrible thing latched onto the rabbit. 

Rather than recoiling or _dying_, as things shot with an arrow usually did, the thing _absorbed it. _ One moment there was an arrow flying at its target and the next moment it was just gone, sucked beneath the inky black...sand.

_ So THAT'S where the sound came from. _ Merida thought, backing away from the creature, which now had its sights aimed for her. It slid easily across the ground, making the small sound she’d heard earlier. Sand against sand. She drew another arrow. Nocked, aimed, fired. This time, rather than absorbing the arrow, the thing just opened up in the middle, splitting to allow the arrow to wedge itself into the ground. Merida continued to back away, going back towards the forest, even though she wasn’t entirely sure it was the safer option. 

The thing, however, did not seem to want to follow her all that far. It stopped, seeming to gather itself together. 

Merida started to relax a tiny bit, drawing another arrow and forcing herself to think clearly. Whatever this thing was, it was malicious, and she was going to have to get rid of it. So for, it had absorbed one arrow but avoided the other one. That probably meant that it wasn’t able to take more than a few shots before it gave up. Which meant if she kept shooting it might go down.

Not the best plan in the world, but it had some merit.

Merida was about to fire again when the thing _ screamed_, a horrible grating noise as it gathered itself together. It sounded like nothing that existed, and yet so _human. _ It was like an animal in pain. The sand creature rose, snarling, as it turned into an inky black horse.

The thing screamed again, making Merida wince, and somehow she knew that was her only shot. Raising her bow, not needing to aim, she drew and fired.

The arrow spun through the air and hit the creature square in the chest. It shattered, exploding into a wave of dark black sand. The coated ground shuttered for a moment then went still. 

  
Merida didn’t bother to see if it came back. She turned around and ran, fast and hard, away from the horrible creature. The only thing on her mind now was _what just happened? _ As she raced to find someone she thought could help. Sandy was a Guardian, after all. This sort of thing was his job. He’d know what to do.


	9. Rising Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup clears his mind with Toothless and meets another spirit with some interesting questions.

Flying wasn’t like anything else in the world. Sure, Hiccup couldn’t remember a time where he couldn’t hop on Toothless and fly wherever he wanted to go, but that never made it less exciting. 

Being in the clouds, high above anything, gave him room to breathe. He could forget about everything but the feeling of wind through his hair and the beat of Toothless’s wings under him. It was magical (which was saying something, considering the fact that he could actually do magic). 

He’d finished painting a forest in vivid shades of red and yellow as fast as he could, then hopped on Toothless and took off through the skies. Toothless, always in the mood to go flying, had happily complied, and had been delighted to take Hiccup in huge circles while he thought about nothing. 

Unfortunately, flying could only distract him for so long. Before he knew it, he found his thoughts drifting again to the white-haired boy he’d seen a few weeks ago. He thought about how much fun the boy seemed to be having, covering his little grotto in frost. 

Shaking his head, Hiccup forced his thoughts back to the present. As much as he’d like to go flying this far just for fun, this little adventure did have a point. He’d built a sort of dragon scale wingsuit to replace his old clothes, and wanted to see just how well they worked. 

He leaned down on Toothless, eyeing a low cliff several miles away. “You ready, boy?” He called, grinning as Toothless made several approving noises. “Here we go!” 

Quickly switching the set of Toothless’s tail fin, Hiccup kicked his legs free of the saddle and stood slightly. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. 

And jumped. 

Hiccup let himself fall for a second, hollering and grinning as he plummeted down. Then, he spread his arms, flaring the extra fabric of his wingsuit. His descend abruptly slowed, pulling him up as he glided toward the cliff. 

He was  _ flying _ . Laughing, Hiccup whooped in delight, revelling in his achievement. 

But flying was not the best word for what Hiccup was doing, and as the cliff came up faster and faster with no way for him to stop…

He almost missed Toothless’s cry above him, with the wind roaring in his ears the way it was. He did  _ not _ miss Toothless slamming full force into him, catching Hiccup in his front paws and curling around him right before they hit the cliff. 

Once they stopped rolling, Hiccup groaned and carefully untangled himself from his dragon, still breathing heavily. 

Getting to his feet, he eyed Toothless, who, aside from looking a little huffy, was fine. 

“Well,” Hiccup said, grinning. “The suit was a success, bud! We’ll have to work on our landing strategy, though.”

Toothless snorted, nudging him in the side. Obligingly, Hiccup patted his head, still beaming. Despite the fall, that was  _ fun _ . 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dragon spirit before,” a voice said from behind him. 

Hiccup whirled around, Toothless spinning and snarling next to him. Standing a few feet away, looking mildly sheepish, was a pretty looking girl in a purple dress with…  _ very _ long hair. And no shoes. 

“Sorry,” the girl said, still looking very sheepish. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I happened to be nearby and I saw you flying and…”

“It’s fine,” Hiccup assured her, offering a small smile.

The girl smiled back before eyeing Toothless with barely restrained interest. Toothless eyed her back, looking mildly interested as well. 

Hiccup offered the girl his hand. “I’m Hiccup. This is Toothless. Nice to meet you.”

The girl took his hand. “I’m Rapunzel. It’s nice to meet both of you!”

Hiccup let go of her hand, and Toothless nudged his way after him, sniffing Rapunzel. She beamed at the dragon, petting right under his chin until Hiccup’s fierce Night Fury was reduced to a puddle of happy dragon on the ground. 

“He’s  _ wonderful _ ,” Rapunzel said, looking delighted. “Why’d you name him Toothless?”

“Well,” Hiccup said, leaning down. “I’ll show you. Open up, bud.”

Toothless obliged, opening his mouth to reveal his impressive lack of teeth. Rapunzel’s eyes widened. “That makes sense—” she began, only to be cut off by Toothless suddenly growing his teeth. Rapunzel laughed. Hiccup snorted. 

“Real cute, bud,” he said. Toothless purred at him, retracting his teeth and sitting down properly. 

Rapunzel smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before,” she said. “Or your dragon, for that matter.”

Hiccup smiled. “I don’t spend a lot of time here after winter, and judging by the impressive amount of flowers behind you,” Rapunzel blushed slightly. “I’m assuming you’re more here for spring activities.”

Rapunzel laughed, still blushing. “Yes, I spend most of spring up here. I am the Spirit of Spring, after all.”

“I’d have never guessed,” Hiccup said, grinning. “I’m the Spirit of Autumn, so you know. Separate work times.”

Rapunzel nodded, still smiling. “I was wondering, a bit of a weird question but…”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. 

“Have you… noticed that a lot of your children have gotten… a little… I don’t know, unhappy?”

“Like they haven’t been sleeping properly?” Hiccup asked. “Yes, I have. In fact, I was about to ask you the same question.”

Rapunzel sighed. “So you wouldn’t have any idea why that is, would you?”

Hiccup shrugged, absentmindedly petting Toothless. “They  _ look _ like they’ve been having… I don’t know, nightmares? Like, somethings keeping them from sleeping very well lately. That’s all I’ve managed to glean. They seem to be looking for a distraction.”

Rapunzel nodded. “Well, that’s more info than I’ve gotten on the subject, so thank you for that.”

“No problem.”

“I should probably get going. Lots of work to do,” Rapunzel said, looking a little disappointed. “I hope to see you two around.”

  
“So do I. It was nice to meet you. I’m sure Toothless would like to see you again,” Hiccup said, nudging the dragon. 

Rapunzel gave Toothless another parting pat as they said their goodbyes. Hiccup hopped back onto Toothless and they took off to the skies, where Hiccup could feel the wind in his hair and the steady beat of Toothless’s wings beneath him. 

He had a lot to think about, it seemed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't updated in literal years. I've had a lot going on (who hasn't honestly) and I've had one of the worst cases of writer's block on the face of the planet. I'm going to be trying to update this more often, but don't expect a regular schedule for a little while yet. I'm also sorry to post this chapter in the middle of the night but I wanted to give you guys something new!


End file.
